PROPERTY FROM A VERY DISTINGUISHED COLLECTOR

Provenance: Pampanga

ABOUT THE WORK

These two lovely “ramilletes” in the neoclassical style come from a very discerning and discriminating collector who began in the heady 1980s, a time when only the very best antiques were purchased and only the deepest pockets participated in the game. The central motif is a shield–shaped cartouche surrounded by small, exquisitely rendered floral and foliar forms. There are “Catmon” flowers and leaves. Visible are some “rocaille” flowers and leaves which are remnants of the previous rococo style, showing the transition of the pieces. These two specimens are very remarkable because after two hundred years they still have the original backings of “baticuling” wood (Litsea leytensis) and the bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) receptacles for artificial flowers of silk or “lagang” shellwork or even candles. During the Spanish colonial period (1571–1898), these were installed on the two “gradillas” levels of main altars in churches, three on either side of the tabernacle alternating with three candleholders, a total of twelve “ramilletes” for each altar. “Ramilletes” (bouquets of flowers in Spanish) in Spanish Filipinas (1571– 1898) were artificial bouquets of flowers rendered in Mexican solid silver 80% for altars in churches. The most beautiful examples of “ramilletes” (and ecclesiastical silver in general) were produced in the rococo and neoclassical styles by expert Sangley (Chinese) and Filipino silversmiths in Binondo, Manila from around 1750–1850. These were purchased by the major religious orders (Augustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits) and parishes and sent to their more prosperous parishes from the North to the South. Before the antique collecting craze that began during the 1950s, the Augustinian churches of Ilocos Norte and Sur, Pampanga and Bulacan, Batangas; the Dominican churches of Pangasinan, Cagayan and Isabela; the Franciscan churches of Laguna and the Bicol peninsula were all teeming with antique ecclesiastical silver. These fell into disuse after the reforms of the Vatican II Council (1962– 65) and thereafter were sold off to antique collectors and traders who melted them down in the crucibles of Meycauayan, Bulacan.